Clarifications

Last session we had a lot of people who were new to the system, and I noticed some rules and concepts that weren't as clear as they could be. So for this post I'd like to go into a little more detail about some of the game concepts and offer some additional information.

Clarity

Choosing a Clarity rating for your character can be tricky, as it's a rather abstract mechanic that sort of wraps several ideas into one. It covers your character's connection to humanity, their grip on reality, and how well they avoid acting like their former masters. My general advice is to look through the list of Clarity sins in the rulebook and try to think of the worst thing your character has done since escaping from Arcadia. This isn't a perfect system, of course - each single act can only lower your Clarity once, so if circumstances lead to your character murdering someone but they otherwise go about their daily lives trying to be a good person, their Clarity probably isn't that low. In such cases, I'd suggest finding the worst thing your character would have done regularly, and then lowering it again by one if they have committed an exceptionally heinous act.

Of course, the question might be asked, what is actually the point of starting with low Clarity? It has no positive effects, and multiple negative ones. The truth is, it's largely a matter of honestly. If your character has been kidnapping humans on a regular basis for years before the game begins, it doesn't make much sense for them to only start being affected by those acts during the game. It makes more sense for narrative flow if your character's Clarity is at the level they'd have naturally settled at from the beginning of the game.

Anchors

Anchors seem to be the part of character creation that's the most difficult for many people, and I'd guess that's because it requires a lot of thought and has a much wider range of possibilities than picking from finite numerical choices. Anchors weren't actually part of the base Changeling rules, and were inspired by a mechanic introduced in the Vampire: the Requiem book Danse Macabre. I included them because I felt that with Clarity's abstract nature it would help to have a concrete focus on how losing Clarity affected the character's life, and further distinguish the system by showing Changelings' dependence on their mortal trappings to retain their human side. I also feel it helps to flesh out the parts of a character's life that aren't necessarily tied to mechanics like Merits.

Anchors can be pretty much anything - friends, family, favourite places, objects of importance, hobbies, habits, etc. The important aspects are:
-The Anchor can't be too broad. "Plants" is too broad, but if your character has a favourite garden, or likes to keep plants around their house, that works fine.
-The Anchor must provide your character with some level of comfort, and should be a stable aspect of their life.
-The Anchor cannot be supernatural in nature. The point of Anchors is they tie your character to the mortal world.
-The Anchor must be something that the character could potentially lose, or one that could become unstable.

Remember, losing Anchors doesn't necessarily mean the thing is gone, it just means the character can no longer depend on it as a stable source of comfort.

Derangements

Characters that start with low Clarity may also end up starting with Derangements. These are various forms of mental instability that are symptoms of the character's lowered grip on reality and antisocial behaviour. They can be either mild or severe. Mild derangements have a minor effect on a character's life, and might not even be noticed by other characters, but Severe derangements cause significant trouble for the character. When a character gains a derangement, they may either gain a mild one or upgrade a mild derangement to severe.

Tokens

As Tokens are just one Merit I didn't include the full rules for them in the Rules Document, but I feel I should expand on them a bit. Firstly, all Tokens are activated the same way: Either by spending a Glamour, or by making a Wyrd test (which will be difficult for most characters). A character can bypass either of these by fulfilling a Token's catch. When coming up with ideas for Tokens, consider that catches will usually cover the items main intended use. For instance, a magical rapier's catch may be for when it is used in a formal duel.

Tokens are roughly similar in power to Contracts of the same level, but shouldn't be able to mimic a Contract's effects, and usually have a drawback or are limited in some way. Here are some sample Tokens to give a rough idea of what they can be.
●: Objects that have specific or minor effects: A Mirror that allows the character to contact their Fetch, or an ornament that allows a car to temporarily run without gasoline. These tokens will usually never aid a character in harming others.
●●: Objects that offer useful but small benefits: A Lantern that warns when a foe the character thinks of is near, or a ribbon that doubles the range of a firearm.
●●●: Objects that are of reasonable utility: A Doll that, when activated, allows the character to see through its eyes, or a Wardrobe that can instantly create new garments. This is usually the minimum level for tokens that harm enemies.
●●●●: Objects that offer significant benefits: A Weapon that causing agonising wounds to fester an hour later, or an Idol that can come alive and bite enemies with a hallucinatory venom.
●●●●●: Objects of legendary prowess: A Battle-standard that strengthens allies, or a blade that drains life from enemies to heal the user.

Fetches

When the True Fae take someone captive, they usually leave an imposter in their place. This duplicate is constructed from branches, vines and bric-a-brac, covered with the Mask to look like the character, and granted many of the character's memories. Ironically, this means that when many Changelings finally escape Arcadia, they find themselves to be the strangers in their own lives.

When thinking of your backstory, keep your fetch in mind. Not every Changeling has a fetch, but I would recommend only deciding your character doesn't have one if it actually adds something to your character's story. Consider how your character would have dealt with their imposter, and whether their character would attempt to rebuild their old life or start a new one. It's entirely possible you don't even know what happened to your fetch, especially if your character is fresh from the hedge, but consider that if your fetch is still out there it may have consequences.

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If you have any questions about something else you'd like to see clarified, let me know either through comments or email and I'll post up an explanation.

On another note, I'd like to state that I'm currently unhappy with the way the Pledge system works. I'm working on revising it, and I'll announce changes soon. The system likely won't change much - I mostly want to reduce the cost of invoking them. Rest assured I have no intentions of altering anything that affects character creation.